"Widow, I bet these gentlemen would just hate being slapped around by a proactively dressed woman."

~ Clint Barton (Hawkeye)

:Aden:

Whoever said that the nerds would end up ruling the world was mistaken. As far as I could see, the world was full of bullies in positions of power. The world would always be run by the bullies, trust me.

My evidence was startling.

My father owned Dash Corp, the multimedia empire. Maybe you've heard of it? Who am I kidding? You probably have.

Anyways, being the son of one of the most powerful men in the city was not as fun as you'd think. I was a disappointment. I was no businessman or bully, I was only a scrawny nerd who couldn't even defend himself against other kids. I'd rather give a bully my lunch money than even try to fend for myself. I would rather avoid confrontation than run straight into it.

It didn't help that Dylan Danvers, the guy who'd been bullying me since we could both walk and talk, was also the son of my father's best friend.

Sometimes I wondered if my dad wished Dylan had been his real son, because I certainly didn't live up to his expectations. Dylan was the perfect embodiment of the son he always wanted.

Mean. Selfish. Egotistical. Boastful.

(You get the idea)

I mean – It was bad enough that I had to go to the same school as Dylan and his friends, but the fact that he was invited to dinner every Friday was pure torture. I had to endure hours of my father telling me to be more like Dylan and my mother dotting over him. It only helped that Dylan's parents disliked me about as much as I disliked Dylan.

They thought the nerd thing was a phase. That I would eventually put down the books for a football. That all this time around Dylan will somehow make me be him by osmosis.

It didn't help my case that Dylan and his dumb friend, Burke, followed me into the bathroom today. They pushed me around, per usual, and I cowered, per usual. But this time Oliver Storm walked in on us, just my luck.

Oliver Storm was, in short, the most popular boy in school. He had the looks, blonde with movie star white teeth, and the attitude. He was known for being perhaps the nicest kid you'd ever meet, but I didn't believe the rumors until I saw it for myself. I mean, why would you have reason to be nice if you were popular and good looking?

He scared away Dylan and Burke without even breaking a sweat. And then, to my surprise, he offered me help. Me. He didn't even know me and he wanted to help.

But Oliver saving me did not come freely. Dylan made sure to jab and make fun at me even more than usual when our families went out to dinner. I was starting to resent Oliver for even trying to help. What was the point of helping someone once if you wouldn't be there all the rest of the times they needed help?

"Aden, put down the book, honey. You are in a nice restaurant with your family, so be polite and talk with us. Do you see Dylan reading at the table?" Mrs. Ruby Dashner, my mother, chided at me.

I scoffed under my breath, "That's only because he doesn't know how to read."

"What was that honey?"

"Oh, I was just agreeing with you, mother."

Of course my parents just had to take us to one of the most expensive and high end restaurants in the city. They knew just how much I enjoyed ordering off of a menu with appetizers more expensive than some people's rent.

(Note the sarcasm)

I had many an idea of where the Dashner fortune could be better spent than this high class dump, like if it was donated to charity or used to raise the pay of many Dash Corp employees that were currently being paid only just above minimum wage.

Let's just say that I had many ideas for how our money could be used for good.

". . . and I doubt he's ever even tried out for the Tennis team, have you, Aden?" Dylan asked from across the table, obviously trying to prove a point to my father.

"No, I find that it takes away from activities that are more important, like basically anything else."

"Aden," my father warned, "You would find it good to try out for one of the sports Eldredge Academy offers. Sports build character, as shown by Dylan over here."

"Yes, and reading builds intelligence, no wonder Dylan has none." I deadpanned.

Both the women at the table gasped. It was like I'd said something taboo instead of a universally known fact. The Danvers used Dylan's dedication to tennis as an excuse for the bad grades, but we all knew better on the inside, even if the knowledge was very deep down for some rather than others.

"Aden, apologize to your friend right now."

I took a deep breath and looked back up. Whenever I said something even mildly insulting towards Dylan, it was like I committed high treason, but whenever it was the opposite way around, Dylan was just 'joking around'.

I was tired of the hypocrisy.

"Only if he apologizes for every insulting thing he's ever said about me, father."

"Boy, when has he ever been insulting to you?"

I widened my eyes. "Are you joking? Does any of this sound familiar? 'Oh, Aden is so scrawny that I could push him away with just one finger' or, 'the only reason Aden reads so much is because he has no people skills' or, my personal favorite, 'I would make a much better son than Aden,' which you actually agreed to! I mean – how could you call any of that 'joking around'?"

"He's just helping you change, son." My dad argued.

"Change? Oh, do you mean become exactly like him? Because I'm pretty sure that is the only way that you'd ever be proud of me. I'm a disappointment to you and your business, admit it! The only reason you haven't disowned me and adopted poor little Dylan is because it would make you look bad. Because your image is everything, you would rather spend more time making yourself seem perfect, even if you spend no time with your family. Maybe if you'd spent more time with me when I was little, I wouldn't be such a disappointment, Mr. Dashner."

My mom gasped, "Apologize to your father right now, Aden. You cannot talk to him like that."

I shook my head incredulously. They would never listen to a word I say.

I stood up from the table abruptly, halting conversations at other tables as my chair loudly screeched away from the table. Silverware clattered as I threw it back on the tabletop. "I need some air."

I walked out of the restaurant, temper fuming. I had never acting out like that in front of my family, but the extra taunting by Dylan and the stupid restaurant threw me over the edge. I was done being treated horribly by my family.

I only stood out in the cold air for less than ten seconds before I felt a presence behind me. "I want to be left alone."

Dylan chuckled, "Oh, like I'd ever let you do that. Besides, mommy and daddy dearest wanted me to bring your book back to you." He held up my book, The Theory of Supers by Luke Trainer.

I reached for it, but he held it back, a gleeful expression on his face. "Oh, no. I can't let you have it back just yet. Think of all the fun I would miss if I didn't make you fight for it. Besides, who reads a book by a conspiracy theorist?"

I sighed, "Look, can I just have it back, Dylan?"

"No, besides, you still haven't apologized." He said, smirking as he held my book above his head at a high I definitely couldn't reach. His red dress shirt only increased the illusion of his evil glare.

"Really? I know you hate me, Danvers, but this is too much. Do you have any idea what I've had to live through with you being around every corner? My own parents love you more than me. Do you have any idea how that feels? Wait, no, you don't. Mr. Perfect has no problems and no conscience. You will never give a damn about anyone but yourself." I shot back.

His face scrunched up in anger, "Fine, have fun trying to catch me, Aden."

Dylan ran out across the street during the red light. He knew I was no runner, so this was just added torture. But that book was a limited edition copy, I was not letting Dylan manhandle it.

I ran after him, but an out of control truck took my attention. It swerved and sped like there was no driver. I spotted a flash of purple smoke on top of the container, but had no time to register it because the truck was heading straight for Dylan.

Despite hating his guts, I couldn't let him be crushed by a truck he didn't see coming. I yelled out to him as I ran and he stopped. He didn't move, he just stared at the tuck in awe and fright. I dived at the last second, pushing Dylan out of the way just as the truck reached us. I only had time to read the Paramount Pharmaceuticals logo before I blacked out.

*

*

*

My vision came back as sirens filled my ears. It must've only been minutes since the crash, but in my mind it felt like hours. The truck had split in two when it crashed. The insides were filled with barrels of a fluorescent liquid. I vaguely remembered a news story from earlier today about the company moving all their contaminated ingredients, the ones which cause the strange abilities in some of the takers, to some dump site. It looked like those plans were foiled.

I looked over and saw a dark figure dragging a red and green heap out from some of the rubble of part of the truck. It was Dylan, who was covered in a bit of the goop from the barrels, but he looked mostly okay.

It was then that the pain slowly came to me. I was stuck underneath a part of the truck, a big heavy part by the feeling of it. My upper body was mostly sticking out, so I could move my head if I wished to. I didn't though because I was afraid something might've been broken. I mean, being crushed underneath a truck yields many injuries.

I realized after a couple seconds that my blurry vision was because of the fact that my glasses must've broken and fallen off during the crash.

A white figure appeared in front of me. My blurry vision yielded a bit of silver blur as well, and I deduced the figure as White Lightning. The dark figure who'd dragged Dylan away from the rubble came up next to White Lightning. Now that the figure was close, I deduced that this must've been Delinquent.

"Why'd you have to attack that truck, Delinquent? You could've killed someone!" White Lightning yelled at her.

"They weren't taking those drugs to be destroyed like they were supposed to be doing! They were delivering them to some private company who wanted to mass produce super soldiers from those drugs! I wasn't trying to hurt anyone!"

I groaned as a fresh wave of pain hit me. My groan alerted the two to my presence. In a flash, they were both at my side.

"Aden." White Lightning whispered under his breath, but I'm sure it was just an illusion because, how could White Lightning know my name?

"We need to lift this thing off of him." Delinquent stated, "If only one of us had super strength, am I right?"

They were able to move most of the truck off of me, White Lightning using his powers to cut away smaller portions that they could lift first. By the time the last piece was lifted off, the ambulance got here. The two medics strapped me down and carried me into the ambulance.

The last thing I glanced before I blacked out was the greenish goo from the barrels covering my entire body, mixing with red blood and absolutely ruining the white dress shirt father forced me to wear before we left for dinner.

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So, how'd you like the new character? I promise his POV will make sense later on. Let's just say that he'll be important in the sequel.

Anyways, pretty please, vote, comment, and maybe follow?